Before the sun rises above the horizon, Paula Shearer is already waist deep in the Bow River.

She flings her line back and forth, casting a nearly weightless fly into the water, hoping for a catch.

Shearer is a fly fishing angler and guide based in Calgary, and spends most of her time on the Bow River and southern Alberta streams. People come from all over the world to try their hand fishing the Bow with Shearer, hoping to nab a trophy rainbow or brown trout.

“My kind of fishing is all catch-and-release. I’m an advocate for properly trying to handle fish. I think that, yes, we do hook them, but we do our best to get them back and swimming off to catch another day.”

The 20-something had her first taste of fly fishing at age eight when her dad taught her the basics of casting. She was hooked.

“My life revolves around fly fishing and whenever I can, I’m out on the river,” says Shearer. “I love being outside. I love that air against your skin in the morning, that fresh dewy smell, being able to see the sunrise.”

At the end of a full day on the river, Shearer pulls her boat to the shore and single-handedly mounts it on her truck’s trailer, already mentally preparing for the next day’s fishing trip with a new group of clients. This is her office, and she is eager to return.

“If there’s one thing that I can promote, it’s getting outside and enjoying the outdoors, whether it be hiking, camping, fishing. Whatever it is, just get outside. Enjoy it.”

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